Middle-class outrage fuels South Florida Occupy protests

Now that thousands of people have taken to the streets of South Florida in solidarity with the worldwide Occupy Wall Street movement, de facto leaders of the local protests are struggling to harness the anger fueling the demonstrations.

Yet beyond the ire and frustration propelling activists to march, make signs and even pitch tents in public spaces, many participants express a shared sense they have finally found their cause.

"I see this as an awakening that's going on," said Alan Cohen, 74, a retired school teacher from Margate. "This is what I've been waiting for. And I'm glad it's here."

At the heart of the protests is outrage over income inequality, corporate greed and a broken political system that has spread well beyond the borders of the U.S. and led to signs like the one carried in a recent Boca Raton demonstration: "We are the 99% and We Need Help!"

Indeed, the protesters are young and older, working and unemployed, Hispanic, black and white. As a group they are non-partisan. But those on the left, such as U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chair of the Democratic National Committee, have embraced their message as an expression of middle-class frustration.

Adam Salater, 31, an organizer of Occupy Fort Lauderdale, called what's happening "a once in a lifetime event, a revolution in consciousness. We want to change the way society values people and things."

As Occupy organizers in both Broward and Palm Beach counties search for central, downtown locations for a permanent occupation sites, they are also wrestling with the question of what next?

For a movement that shuns a formal leadership structure, there seems no clear answer, and no big rush to find one. But those taking part believe they can have an impact.

"I think we have already changed the conversation to the issues we are passionate about," said Salater, a licensed yacht captain with a degree in political science. "Deregulation of banks, the slashing of social services, disenfranchisement people feel with the political system."

Salater went to Manhattan last month, slept a few nights in Zuccotti Park, and came back determined to take to the streets to oppose the societal ills that most bug him: income disparity, school drop-out rates, the ignorance of the wealthy to the struggles of everyday people.

"I have talked to bankers," said Salater. "Their lack of understanding of how people suffer is mindboggling."

Roberto Hernandez, 25, a musician, filmmaker and student from Greenacres, said he has been waiting for something like this since he was 10 years old.

"This shows how we can get together and find common ground on essential matters such as human survival in a world where money represents free speech," Hernandez said. "This could be a new type of movement, to confront many issues. We are figuring it out."

Encampments like those in Miami and New York City, near the financial institutions that symbolize the primary objects of protesters' fury, provide a base for continuous demonstrations and a place to go for those ready to commit to more than just following the movement on Facebook and Twitter.

"I'm here because I want my life to be representative of something," said Ricky Jackson, 26, who left Homestead for a spot in a four-person tent pitched in the grass next to the Miami-Dade County government center in downtown Miami. He said he owed $4,000 in unpaid college loans, had no job, and until the Occupy movement sprang up, nowhere to focus his frustration.

"You've got to see it happen before we can believe it's happening," said Jackson.

The men and women who march through the streets of Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach carry with them a smorgasbord of causes and complaints: the mortgage crisis, bank bailouts, pollution, war, hunger, feminist issues, animal rights, homelessness. Even Ron Paul libertarians have taken part.

Eduardo Pazos, 29, owns a smoothie shop in Miami Beach and is doing well, he said. But he is camping out in Miami "because for too many the American dream has been broken by money in politics and the growing gap between rich and poor."

While some Occupy protesters may be Republican voters, the majority skew toward the Democratic Party. President Obama and his re-election team have noticed, and made clear they want to tap into the demonstrators' energy.

But Occupy participants are near-unanimous in saying they do not want to be exploited or folded into any political party. Polls suggest a majority of Americans have a favorable view of the Occupy movement, double that of the Tea Party. But critics abound, too.

In response to stories in the Sun Sentinel last week about Occupy Fort Lauderdale demonstrators being evicted from two public parks, one writer said, "Go to work." Another said, "Go to hell."

Some observers think a failure to articulate clear goals could prove fatal for the movement.